SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2011
BY STEVE JANOSKI
If you're standing on the field, you can hear it. Sometimes the sound travels to the stands, but you certainly can't catch it from the press box. If you're on that field, though, if you're on those sidelines… you'll hear it.
It can take on a few different incarnations. Now, it sounds like shotgun shell going off; later on, it's a dull thud, as if one were hitting a tree with a Louisville slugger. Other times, it sounds like just what it is: a body being violently cast to the ground, over, and over, and over.
This has become the soundtrack for the brutal unit known as the Pompton Lakes Cardinals defense, which, with its savage hitting and propensity to generate turnover after turnover, has left opposing coaches and quarterbacks shaking their heads as they walk off the field.
Most defenses gel as the season goes on; this one has turned into poured concrete.
Their ultimate test, however, lay on the windblown turf of Metlife Stadium on Friday night where they faced off against the Glen Rock Panthers for the North 1, Group 1 championship.
As might be expected, they didn't disappoint, and as the clock ticked off its final minute and the Cardinals offense went into its victory formation, every defensive player could look on the scoreboard with the satisfaction that they'd earned by pitching a 20-0 shutout under the brightest of North Jersey's lights.
Simply put, the Cardinals were everywhere. When a Glen Rock pass was completed, linebackers and safeties flew to the ball carrier, often dishing punishing hits that made every completion a Pyrrhic victory.
When a handoff was taken, Glen Rock running backs would watch their blocking scheme crumble in front of them, crushed under the relentless assault from a line that would not give an inch.
In the end, Glen Rock would muster just 184 yards of total offense against the quagmire of a defense, which has been undeniably led by the same two players all year: defensive end Jack Baumgaertel and defensive tackle Andrew Grosser.
Together, they've managed to bring a fire into the Pompton Lakes squad that has not been seen in some time, a fire that's been forged, Baumgaertel said, by suffering through last year's losing season.
They had taken another hit earlier this year, when August's Hurricane Irene brought drenching rains that flooded hundreds of homes and sunk the team's home field under seven feet of water.
The team remembered that, he said, every time they stepped onto the field, every time they got tired, and every time they got frustrated.
"We're not just doing it for ourselves, we're doing it for the whole town… and that's what was in our hearts and minds: our town, and Pompton pride," he said.
They displayed that pride in historic fashion.
Early on in the first half, they bent but didn't break as Glen Rock sustained a drive here and there before eventually falling apart, while the Cardinals offense would supply two touchdowns and a 14-0 lead by halftime.
As the second half opened, however, the defense truly came out.
Glen Rock's first drive would be ended by a Nieko Torres interception, and its second would end in the hands of cornerback Larry Gelok.
The third would be put to sleep by Pompton's biggest hitter: Grosser, the 6 foot 2 inch, 275 lb. behemoth, who would sack Miller on a second and 12 from the Glen Rock 35 yard line.
The 11 yard loss effectively killed the drive, and Glen Rock punted soon after.
After another Pompton Lakes touchdown on the following drive, Glen Rock would mount what was possibly their best shot at scoring in the game, taking a 13 play drive from their own 21 to the Cardinal 31 yard line.
This too would end badly, however, when a Mike O'Neill pass sailed into the middle of the endzone and into the waiting hands of free safety Daniel Foote, who quickly downed the ball.
Foote would repeat that trick on the next drive, intercepting another pass and making a return that, if not for a holding call on Pompton, would have resulted in his running the length of the field for a score.
Baumgaertel attributed this lights-out play to a coaching staff that did their due diligence in drilling the players on the various misdirection plays and reverses that they knew they'd see coming at them.
"We knew that they were going to do a lot of trick plays, and we knew they were going to run to the outside, but the coaches taught us well and we prepared for it," he said.
Coach Scott Mahoney echoed this, and said that Glen Rock "tried just about everything we saw on film," but his defense was able to adapt and keep up.
It was something of a chess match for Mahoney. Glen Rock likes to run sweeps and traps, he said, and therefore, those had to be cut off. If they were, he anticipated that they would try to start throwing the ball.
With enough pressure, however, and the addition of another defensive back, Pompton could make them throw on the run, which could force them to commit turnovers.
That turnover margin, which ended up being four to one in Pompton's favor, leads directly to the winner's circle, he said.
"We were plus 22 for the year — we had 34 takeaways and 12 giveaways — and when you do that, you're gonna' win, bottom line," Mahoney said.
The philosophy worked, and the Pompton fans that packed the stands by the hundreds could see that checkmate was called by the end of the third quarter.
As for the hitting? Mahoney said that came from practice.
"The kids wanted to hit, they wanted to be physical, and every practice was physical," he said. "We hit right down to Wednesday, we were tackling and poppin' people."
That environment fosters aggressiveness, and Mahoney said that as one big hit begets another, the attitude became contagious.
"One guy sees a big hit, and everyone gets excited, and then they want to make the big hit…that's how you win here," he said.
Apparently, that's how you win at the Meadowlands as well.
E-mail: janoski@northjersey.com
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/135009328_Defense_makes_sure_that_they_can_be_seen__heard_and_most_importantly_felt.html?c=y&page=1
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